Morgan Chilson

Two Kansas medical professionals sat for an hour at an early morning committee hearing in mid-March, waiting their turn to speak out against a bill. One drove two hours to attend. Neither got a chance to talk.

An audit of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program usage, conducted by the Legislative Post Audit Department, found that between $700,000 and $1.2 million in federal fiscal years 2023 and 2024 may have been paid to recipients living outside Kansas.

HB 2346 would have established the new grant program at the Kansas Department of Commerce to provide dollar-for-dollar matching grants to support sports tourism events.

Kansas lawmakers overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's veto to force the bill into law. Republican leaders say it's intended to prevent "radical protesters" from interfering with law enforcement or ICE actions. But press advocates say it's unconstitutional.

The Kansas House and Senate both voted by a two-thirds majority to put the "Kansas Intellectual Rights and Knowledge Act" into law. The bill addresses free speech on college campuses and honors Kirk, a political activist killed by a gunman in September while speaking at a college event.

The Kansas Legislature approved a provision to clamp down on public school protests by requiring students to receive parental permission before participating, and hitting districts with penalties as high as $100,000 per day for failing to enforce restrictions.

As it prepared for the second year, a meeting scheduled with Department of Energy contractors during President Donald Trump's inauguration in January was cancelled.

The resolution, which would have been on the August ballot for voters to decide, limits the assessed valuation of residential, commercial, and agricultural property from jumping more than 9% in any one year.

Senate Bill 360 was the original bill introduced to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs.

Rep. Dan Osman, an Overland Park Democrat, opposed the bill's passage, pointing to projected costs to the state general fund in excess of $1.5 million each year.